Why I picked up this book:

I was strolling around Twitter when I saw a tweet from the author that her ARC was on NetGalley. I’d read her story Breath of Fire some time back and really liked the blend of romance and fantasy, so of course I jumped right on this. Admittedly… with some hesitation though. Her previous book dropped me off a cliff at the end, a small pet peeve of mine. But this time I really wanted to try her voice again and cross my fingers that the story had a full, standalone arc. So I snagged this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review may contain spoilers.

Nightchaser

Captain Tess Bailey and her crew of Robin Hood-like thieves are desperate and on the run. Pursued by a vicious military general who wants them dead or alive, Tess has to decide if she can trust Shade Ganavan, a tall, dark and arrogant stranger with ambiguous motivations. Shade Ganavan had oodles of arrogance, oodles of charm, and oodles of something that made me want to kick him in the nuts. What Tess and Shade don’t know about each other might get them killed…unless they can set aside their differences and learn to trust each other—while ignoring their off-the-charts chemistry.

    

What I loved:

Loved Shade’s character. He’s such a fantastic blend of badass mercenary and self-torture to the point of standing in his own way. I would love to see more of this character or even take a trip into his origin story.

I’m probably against popular opinion here, but I adored Bridgebane. This is another character I wanted a lot more of, especially learning about his stronger ties at the end. I have my suspicions about him, but I’ll keep this a spoiler free zone.

When the action intensified in this story, it really pulled me in by the throat. I’d be chugging along, things would heat up, and several chapters would fly by as I’d be fully immersed in the story.

Areas needing a touch of refinement:

But… while the action snared me, the overall story structure left me scratching my head. Instead of building the action and tension, the story started with a bang, went dry, then sort of did this roller coaster of exciting/dry. It’s really noticeable from about the 60% point forward where the tension is heightened, deflated, heightened, deflated. Then by the time they’re all back to the ship, the story feels done, and yet there are still several more chapters of characters puttering around. In all honesty, the last several chapters aren’t even necessary, but I am happy to report this story had a full open/close arc and that made me super happy and excited for book 2.

So, this is totally a how I read thing, but at times the narrative was too deep inside Tess’ head. While it’s great to know what she’s feeling, I honestly could have done without half of her internal narrative and the story would have moved along a lot smoother.

I also really wanted more of Shade. His character was great, and honestly his internal battle felt a lot stronger. What I really noticed though was times in the story where a chapter closed with Tess and organically it felt like we should move back into Shade’s head, but it didn’t. So I’d be reading more Tess but wondering where the heck Shade was and why we weren’t there with him.

Overall:

The truth is, I enjoyed this story immensely and it really got me excited to read more of Bouchet’s work. Tess and Shade are a great heroine/hero pair and play off one another nicely, both in their anger and their sizzling sexual tension. I’m so happy this book works as a great standalone, but I’m definitely looking forward to book 2, more about the Fold, and of course saving the one who got away. 🙂

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